Kiko Alonso’s hit on Joe Flacco: Was it dirty? Should he be fined, suspended?

Quarterback Joe Flacco #5 of the Baltimore Ravens is hit by middle linebacker Kiko Alonso #47 of the Miami Dolphins as he slides in the second quarter against the Miami Dolphins at M&T Bank Stadium on October 26, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

It was the cheap-shot heard ’round the world.

Or was it?

The football world has been heatedly discussing whether Kiko Alonso’s hit that knocked Joe Flacco out of Thursday night’s Miami Dolphins-Baltimore Ravens tilt with a concussion was dirty. The Ravens went on to dust the Dolphins 40-0, but it was Alonso’s hit that was the main talking point.

Late in the first half, with the Ravens driving into Miami territory, Flacco took off on a scramble and was nearing a first down when he slid. Alonso, seemingly half-expecting the slide, launched himself at Flacco and nailed him in the head with his arm, knocking off the quarterback’s helmet and spurring a melee that lasted several seconds.

The referees flagged Alonso for a personal foul, but the linebacker was not ejected. After the game, Alonso called it a “bang-bang” play, but told reporters that Flacco’s slide came a smidge later than he anticipated.

“I just think it was a second late, which is why I hit him,” he said. “… At first I was anticipating I thought he was going to slide. And then it got to a point where I was like, ‘I got to (hit) him,’ because he slid too late.”

According to ESPN, it was the first personal-foul penalty whistled against Alonso in his four-year NFL career.

Even Ravens coach John Harbaugh got into Alonso’s face after the play, and the two could clearly be seen screaming at each other. Alonso said he told Harbaugh, “Man, it was bang-bang. I don’t know what else I could’ve done.” Harbaugh did not comment on it after the game beyond saying it was penalized correctly.

Viewers of every ilk blew up Twitter suggesting that Alonso should have been ejected from the game, fined, suspended … or even worse.

But several analysts took Alonso’s side, including ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.

The outspoken Smith admitted that it’s understandable to want to protect the NFL’s quarterbacks, as they’re the faces of the league, but he stopped short of calling for a suspension.

“I didn’t think the hit was as egregious as Ravens players tried to make it out to be,” he said Friday morning. “Was it a little late? Probably so. But I thought that … (Flacco) slid a little bit too late and his upper body was still a touch erect.

“I just look at it as one of those situations where, obviously, if you have an opportunity to get a hit on a quarterback, you’re going to take advantage of that…. Kiko Alonso was obviously, definitely trying to do that. I thought that the hit to the head … obviously you could say that it was a bit excessive, but again I thought that Flacco slid a little bit late. And because of that, I thought Kiko was in position to make the argument that it was somewhat unavoidable.”

Smith reiterated that you need to protect the quarterbacks, “err on the side of caution,” and as a result, he was in favor of Alonso receiving a fine, “but I don’t think a suspension is warranted here or anything of that nature.”

So what do you think? Was it a dirty hit? Should Alonso be fined or suspended for his actions? Is it fair that Flacco was knocked out of the game, but Alonso continued to play on?